Messi staying, Haaland coming in: What’s next for Barca under Laporta?

It only took a win against mediocre Osasuna and Joan Laporta’s installment as the new/old Barcelona president for the fans to go wild: In a recent poll of 160,000 voters, 48 percent said they favored the Catalans to win La Liga, compared to 28 percent for Atletico Madrid and 22 percent for Real Madrid.

The biggest thing in Barcelona is surely Lionel Messi’s stay/go situation. And with Laporta’s election and his well-documented friendship with the Argentinian, the fans are optimistic again: In another poll, from 90,000 voters, 75 percent think that the current Barcelona captain will remain at the Camp Nou beyond this season.

And all this hype is just two days after Laporta has been elected president (again) of the Catalonian giants. The Spaniard has yet to name members of his board, but it is expected that Ferran Server and Mateu Alemany will become director-general and director of football. And then the real work begins.

A late Cruyff as an attachment and a promise of #MessiStays enough for Laporta to win the elections

Laporta’s priorities must be Financial situation, Lionel Messi, young Barca players, new arrivals. Without a serious long-term and a much quicker short-term plan for the club, he won’t be able to fulfill his main promise – to keep Messi. This was Laporta’s mantra from the beginning and failing to do so, would seriously damage his credibility. That’s why one of the first things he said after the elections were: 

„Messi congratulated me. I believe he wants to stay“

Reportedly, Barca’s captain is happy indeed with Laporte’s resurrection in the club, but liking his president and making one of the greatest decisions in his professional career are two separate things. Barcelona needs to find a way to financially support Messi’s new contract, without even bringing new players. And the club is in debt of a barely believable 1.17 billion euros — which, for any normal business, would mean bankruptcy and liquidation. The arrests last week of Bartomeu and three other past or present Barca executives in a judicial investigation into potential financial crimes at the Nou Camp was yet another reminder of just what a mess the club is in.

Laporta did talk during his campaign about tapping bond markets for extra cash. The club’s new economic vice-president Jaume Giro has mentioned two different debt issues — one aimed at fans and another at investors. He faces a tough task on and off the pitch and tensions within the club between the traditional 'establishment' and insurgent forces are still there. Whatever happens, he needs to find more money for Messi’s new contract (if he stays) and new signings.

Laporta has cleverly remained quiet on the transfers front, not naming a single player, but he will surely want to „splash the cash“ on a big name signing, just to give his fans a big shot of belief, and to show his rivals „I can still do it, even the massive debt“ type of confidence. Erling Haaland would certainly be that type of signing, and it would get the fans drooling, Messi thinking of staying and leaving Real in shock. Laporta will certainly going to at least try it, and newspapers in Spain and England have already begun to dig into the rumors. Spanish AS reports that Laporta has already met with the agent of Bayern Munich defender Alaba and is a huge fan of Borussia Dortmund forward Haaland, with a keen interest in bringing them both. But before that, he needs to sit down with Barca’s creditors – the club has to pay out 266 million euros to various financial institutions by June 30. If Haaland's experiment fails (like it probably will), Sergio Aguero is next in line – he could come in for free and he is Messi’s mate. Also, a certain number of players will have to be sold as well, and Philippe Coutinho is surely the first one on the list. After the Brasilian, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele could be in the mix, since both players failed to make a significant impact, although the latter has finally started to score regularly.

And then, there is La Masia – Barcelona’s famous youth academy. Laporta needs to get more kids who are born and bred at Nou Camp into the team. They know what Barca is, what is expected, and they are also cheaper than famous football stars who command a big payday. Laporta needs to sit down with his sports sector and decide to whom he should offer a new contract. Oscar Mingueza, Ilaix Moriba, Riqui Puig, Inaki Pena and Alex Collado first come to mind. Mingueza deal comes to an end in June, and Barca has an additional two-year extension option, but it will come with the automatic pay rise. Ilaix Moriba already has so many offers that Laporta must sign him come June since his contract runs out in 2022. Moriba's agent (same as Bale’s) earned a commission of more than 2.5 million euros when the youngster renewed his contract the last time, so this one won’t be easy, but surely cheaper than paying an additional fee for an outsider. Alex Collado didn’t see much playtime due to a serious injury but his deal also ends in June.

Barcelona: "From riches to rags" in half a decade

So, the moment of glory and applauds came and gone, and the real work starts now. Will Laporta be successful like the first time he was at the helm of Barca? Much of that will depend on the moves he makes in June.